I think a lot of people were like, it's pretty wild idea pretty crazy. But I think to the
people close to me, my family they realised that like, actually, there's nothing he'd
rather be doing. There’s no way he's not going to do this.
Australian pro cyclist Lachlan Morton completed the "Alt Tour".
He not only rode every stage of this year's Tour de France but all of the bits in between too.
When the competitors transferred by bus to the next stage Lachlan carried on cycling.
This the Col de Peyresourde. Tell me, that's not what you think about when you hear about the Tour de France. This is so nice.
Lachlan set off on the first day of the Tour de France. His aim? To beat the peloton to Paris.
I kind of played down the difficulty of it, because I don't want to make anyone worried.
But I knew, like inside myself that like, it was going to be incredibly difficult. And
the more research that we did on the route, and the distances, it became pretty apparent
that, to me anyway, that it was something that definitely wasn't a sure thing, that
I could make it and it would require me to like, basically be on my A game, and really,
really focused and basically be pushed to my limit in some way every day. Which, like,
it's a daunting thing to throw yourself into. But it's also like, for me that that's very
motivating.
Lachlan cycled 5,500 kilometres alone and unsupported riding for 18 days straight, only
stopping to eat and sleep.
It's like the thickest, dampest dew. Everything is just soaked. My clothes are so wet.
My process was basically I'd have an idea of how far I was going to try and get the next
day. And then using Google Maps or whatever you can see okay, maybe there's a campground
here at 250 kilometres and then there's another campground at 300 kilometres that is sort
of on my route. And there's a small town like 10 kilometres, before that campground, which
looks of decent size, maybe I can find some food there.
And that was sort of the extent of it, looking one day ahead. And then a lot of guesswork.
It's definitely a lot more personal and you're very much in your own head. And you're not
racing against competitors, you just kind of trying to manage, like, your physical ability
and your mental state over like a really extended period of time.
So it's very unique and different than the challenge of like racing a Grand Tour. It's
also for me anyway, it's a lot more rewarding when you're able to make it work because you
have a much better connection with the place you're riding through, the people who live
there. And then even just the landscape itself, you know, if you're covering all of the
terrain, under your own power, you kind of you really feel the difference between the
mountains, and then the big like farming areas and the cities and you just you have a much
more complete experience I think.
Lachlan arrived in Paris five days ahead of the peloton covering a greater distance in
a shorter amount of time.
Rolling on to the Champs-Elysees and seeing it all in the middle of the night was like,
it just made it very real. Finishing it was great. But ultimately, it's like the experience
of doing it is the reward, if that makes sense. So every day I had that feeling at the end
of each day when I would stop and like a sense of achievement of you know, the distance I
covered the things I've overcome the people I met. I was really thankful to have had the
whole experience.